Water is crucial to desert gardens, but the nature of the desert is to be miserly with water. Now's the time to start thinking and planning water-wise solutions for irrigating and water usage on your desert garden.
One of the most important desert garden chores you can do now is to start preparing for spring by thinking of ways to conserve water, direct it to the plants that need it, and save it for future use.
If it's been unseasonably dry then you're going to need to water. Even in winter, I usually water my desert garden once a month when it's dry. In the early spring, I generally increase it to every two weeks, and then once to twice a week in summer (depending on the amount of rain we get during the monsoon seasons).
In addition to direct watering, now's the time to turn your attention to water retention, to direct water onto your desert plants, or to save it for later use.
Swales and berms: Swales are structures you can do yourself, using simple materials, to impede water flowing down slopes.
A swale can be small - only a few inches high or it can be large -several feet high. The bigger the swale, the harder the work. Here's how you do it. In an area that has evidence of erosion (a small rivulet can eventually expand into an immense arroyo in desert soil), dig a small (six inches deep to several feet deep...you decide how hard you want to work), semi-circular trench with both ends of the semi-circle facing upslope.
The semi circle can be several feet in diameter, or 20 feet or more in diameter. Inside the trench, lay down rolled newspaper end to end. It doesn't have to be newspaper. I've used dead pinion twigs, straw or mulched plant material. Then, taking dirt from the inside of the semi-circle, cover the material.
As rainfall or snowmelt comes down the eroded area, it is impeded by the swale and absorbed by the dirt and material. The water will also bring down small bits of dirt and sand, and begin to fill in the semi-circle. Plant native wildflower seeds inside the semi-circle.(Right now is a good time to plant wildflowers).
As the wildflowers establish themselves, their roots will hold more and more soil around your swale, creating a lovely hillside desert oasis.
Berms are also very simple. When you plant something (particularly established plants you've purchased), build a small earthen or rock wall around the plant. The berm's diameter should be at least twice that of the container. The berm is there to retain water and mulch (I'll explain that in a later article) long enough for it to seep down to the plant's roots.
As you begin to think in water-wise terms, you're going to devise some interesting water conservation and water use methods of your own.
(Next article: An easy way to direct water directly to the roots of your trees, shrubs and plants.)
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